Four coalition MKs rebel as the Knesset erupts over Basic Law: Torah Study

The Knesset plenum approved the Basic Law: Torah Study despite protests from four coalition MKs. Following opposition from two Likud MKs, chaos broke out in the plenum and lawmakers were removed.

The plenum passed the Basic Law: Torah Study in a preliminary reading by 56 votes to 43. Four coalition members voted against the bill together with the opposition: Likud MKs Yuli Edelstein and Dan Illouz, Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel, and Moshe Solomon of Religious Zionism. In response to Illouz’s vote, Shas MKs shouted at him and were removed. Opposition lawmakers who disrupted the vote were also removed from the plenum.

Amid the absence of Arab MKs from the vote, opposition figures told N12: “The Arab parties made a deal with the Haredim and did not come to the vote. They received a promise that Ben Gvir’s muezzin law would be intercepted.”

During the debate, MK Moshe Gafni said that “the current reality will continue forever” and presented the bill. Opposition leader Yair Lapid responded: “Does the Torah of Israel need a political fix? This is not a law about Torah, it is a law about money.” Lapid added that Gafni had referred in his remarks to the Warsaw Ghetto uprising and attacked him: “My father sat in the ghetto because there was no army for the State of Israel. My grandfather died in a concentration camp because there was no army for the State of Israel. This law is a law to fund draft evasion.”

According to the explanatory notes to the bill, it seeks to enshrine in a Basic Law the status of Torah study as a foundational value in the heritage of the Jewish people. It also proposes that the State of Israel recognize those who undertake to devote themselves to Torah study for an extended period as performing meaningful service for the state and the Jewish people. In practice, it would grant a special constitutional status to Torah learners, deepening inequality on the issue of military service.

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri said: “The approval in a preliminary reading of the Basic Law: Torah Study, which was demanded by the Shas movement, is a historic step on the way to Israel’s recognition of the supreme value of the holy Torah and the enormous contribution of Torah scholars to the people of Israel. The Torah is the secret of our existence as the Jewish people, and it has preserved the Jewish people throughout the generations. The Shas faction will continue to work with determination until the law is fully enacted and the Torah and its learners receive the respect they deserve.”

United Torah Judaism chairman MK Yitzhak Goldknopf said: “Today’s vote on the Basic Law: Torah Study, which was approved in a preliminary reading, is the beginning of correcting an injustice of four years, during which the Torah world has been subject to severe persecution. The law that passed is expected to restore the proper status, in a Jewish state, of yeshiva students and kollel students who hold up the world through their study.”

Yesh Atid chairman Naftali Bennett addressed the ultra-Orthodox public after the law was approved: “My ultra-Orthodox brothers and sisters, I love and respect you. The Basic Law: Torah Study that the government is advancing with all its might and has now been approved in a preliminary reading, will badly damage the State of Israel, and it will also badly damage you. This is not a political matter, it is a matter of life and death. We need you with us, without you we will not be here, neither us nor you.”

Yisrael Beiteinu chairman MK Avigdor Liberman responded: “Read my lips. We will cancel all the Basic Laws of your draft evasion, nothing will remain of them!”

MK Meir Porush of United Torah Judaism said: “The people of Israel do not need laws in order to recognize that Torah study is a foundational value in the Jewish people. Unfortunately, because of the malicious conduct of the justice system and the systematic persecution in recent years against Torah learners, we were required to correct this with the Basic Law: Torah Study. We required this bill in the coalition agreements before the government was formed, and better late than never, or never at all. United Torah Judaism will continue to fight with all the tools at its disposal against the persecution of Torah learners and expects the coalition and the government to act against this persecution.”

Yisrael Beiteinu MK Gadi Eisenkot said: “The deal of a few more weeks in power in exchange for the Basic Law: Torah Study is a summary of the history of the most disconnected, most irresponsible and shameful government. Instead of strengthening the IDF in a full-scale war, the government is doing the opposite and harming the strength and spirit of the state. The October 7 coalition has no respect for the lives and security of Israelis and has no public trust.”

Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz said: “The Basic Law: Torah Study is not a ‘good news’ for the world of Torah, but a disgrace. I am in favor of Torah study, which is why I voted against the Basic Law: Torah Study. It is a law that is entirely a cover for draft evasion and contradicts the Torah. The Torah I studied from the late Rabbi Druckman at Or Etzion teaches enlistment and safeguarding my people. Those who want to continue supporting the people of Israel and Torah study need to enlist for our people. That is the only solution, and that is what will happen.”

Yisrael Zeira chairman Yoaz Hendel said: “The law of Torah desecration that passed today in the Knesset is a desecration of everything sacred here. Generations of builders of the country, endless sacrifice and hundreds of thousands of reservists. A desecration of the command to go out to a war of obligation. With the help of the anti-Zionist Haredi and Arab parties, they have harmed the sanctities of Judaism and Zionism. This is a watershed. Whoever studied Torah and does not report for war has not understood what he studied. Thousands of Torah learners who serve prove that there is no justification for draft evasion.”